


It Feels Good To Be The One That You Want

by takemehome21



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Miscommunication, Some Swearing, mentions of bellamy being a journalist for like two seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 10:50:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7433842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takemehome21/pseuds/takemehome21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellamy thinks him and Clarke are dating. Clarke just thinks they’re being more affectionate friends. It takes them an entire month to figure it out.</p><p>Or the only miscommunication trope people are here for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Feels Good To Be The One That You Want

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this](http://youcareabouthim.tumblr.com/post/144967219823/october31st1981-the-only-kind-of) tumblr post.  
> Title is from Never Fade by Jack Johnson.

Everyone knows that Bellamy has been in love with Clarke for years. Well, everyone except for Clarke.

It wasn’t really a problem in the past, her not knowing, but as of late Bellamy’s been itching to tell her. He’s not expecting anything in return but it’ll be nice to get it off his chest. And maybe she’ll surprise him and feel the same.

“It is way too hot for June. Especially when I haven’t shaved my legs and it’s socially unacceptable for women to wear shorts when they have hairy legs,” Clarke says as she walks into his apartment.

“Well you don’t have to worry about what’s socially acceptable when you’re here,” Bellamy replies from where he’s sprawled out on the couch. “You can show off your hairy legs around me. But I bet mine beat yours.”

Clarke toes off her shoes, drops her school bag by the door and runs over to the couch to flop on top of him.

“You’re the best. Do you know that?”

“I’m very aware of my greatness but it’s nice to hear sometimes,” he quips.

Bellamy shifts onto his side so that Clarke can fit comfortably beside him. She rests her head on the armrest and tangles their legs together.

“How was work?” She asks.

“Pretty good. Led a kid’s birthday party through the museum, told them all kinds of obscure facts that only a few seemed to be interested in but it was fun.”

“Look at you imparting your wisdom on the next generation of nerds,” Clarke says with a laugh.

Bellamy laughs along with her and she drops her head to rest on his chest. Their laughter subsides and he finally notices their position. He’s surrounded by her. Every part of her body is against his and it’s not doing great things for his self-control. He’s about to go blabbing that he’s in love with her and wants to have babies with her but then she looks up at him and the words die in his throat.

Clarke reaches up and presses her thumb in the dimple on his chin.

“Clarke, I need to get something off my chest,” he says quickly.

“Go ahead.”

“I’ve never been good at the whole romance thing but I decided I’m going to try. I always put others before myself, I think about what they want and need and I never do what I really want or need.”

He takes a breath and Clarke nods, not saying anything.

“In all my life I’ve never felt the way I do now. Nobody has ever made me feel like this, feel so alive, so in love. So I’m finally going to do something for myself for a change and give in to my feelings,” he finishes with a smile.

Clarke smiles back at him and moves her hand from his chin to his cheek. The soft skin is warm beneath her fingers.

“It’s about time you do something for yourself. It takes a lot of guts to do that and I’m proud of you Bellamy,” she says softly.

“Thanks, it’s been on my mind for a while so it’s nice to get it out in the open.”

“So,”she begins. “When are we going to go out for dinner and celebrate this new beginning?”

Bellamy grabs her hand that’s resting on his face and laces their fingers together.

“When are you free?”

“I have to work tomorrow evening but I’m free on Sunday,” she says after a moment of thought.

“Sunday works for me,” Bellamy replies. “It’s a date.”

The corners of his mouth turn up and Clarke lets out a soft laugh. He’s dying to kiss her but he doesn’t know if it’s too soon. He’s never really had a girlfriend that he’s serious about before and most of his ‘relationships’ began after he had the first kiss with the person. This is new territory and he hates it but he also loves it because it’s Clarke.

Bellamy makes up his mind and decides to just go for it. So he starts to move his head closer to Clarke’s and it’s not a big distance since they’ve been basically touching noses since she flopped on top of him. Right when he’s about to close his eyes and kiss her the door of his apartment slams open.

“What’s up party people?”

Bellamy and Clarke shift away from each other and look to the door to see Jasper and Monty walking through with cases of beer and bags of take out.

“No need to knock, just come right in,” Bellamy says sarcastically.

Clarke laughs and pushes herself off him and off the couch to go say hi to the banes of Bellamy’s existence.  
  


* * *

  
Bellamy and Clarke live in the same apartment building close to the university campus. Clarke’s unit is next door to his and it used to be a bad thing because she was always _right there_ but they were never together. But now that they’re dating Bellamy can finally start enjoying having her so close all the time.

In his fourth year of university, Bellamy’s neighbour told him she was going to start renting out the unit for extra income. Immediately Bellamy recommended Clarke to his neighbour and when Clarke contacted the owner she got the apartment with no problem. After he graduated he decided to keep the apartment because it was close to work and all his friends lived either on campus or around it, including Octavia.

“Let’s go Clarke, you don’t want to be late for class again,” Bellamy says as he lets himself into Clarke’s apartment with the key she gave him.

“Okay mom,” she replies, voice muffled from behind the bathroom door.

Bellamy works at the library on campus part time and the small museum in town and submits articles to a locally based online magazine the rest of the time. So when his work schedule coincides with Clarke’s class schedule they walk to campus together.

Just as the coffee is done brewing Clarke comes out of the bathroom and says, “God bless you! I was in desperate need of coffee with no time to make or buy any.”

“Just call me an angel.”

Clarke snorts and Bellamy pours the coffee into two travel mugs and fixing them exactly how they like.

“Let’s boogie,” Clarke says and grabs her bag while Bellamy grabs the coffees.

“Boogie? Really?” He asks as they walk out of her apartment.

“Yes, of course,” she responds, locking her door and shimming down the hallway to the elevator.

“You’re ridiculous.”

They ride the elevator from the eighth floor to the lobby, sipping their coffees and ribbing each other on the way down. Once they get outside Bellamy reaches for Clarke’s hand. She looks up at him for a second but Bellamy doesn’t catch the look.

They had a pretty good first date and Bellamy really wants to kiss her but he doesn’t want to move too fast. So he settles for holding her hand and putting his arm around her when they’re sitting on the couch and stroking her hair away from her face when she’s too concentrated on her work to notice it’s fallen.

He also doesn’t quite believe that he’s finally dating her so he’s taking it slow so as not to spook her into realizing that she totally deserves better than him.

“Wow, we’ve gotten really affectionate lately,” Clarke says one night when they’re lounging in her apartment.

Her feet are in his lap and Bellamy is running his hand along her calf and over her ankle.

“Is it a bad thing?”

He looks up from his book and for a second he’s worried that he’s doing something she’s not comfortable with.

“Oh, no, it’s good,” she says softly.

“Good,” he replies and leans forward to press a kiss against her forehead.

Clarke feels heat pool in her cheeks and a shy smile finds its way onto her lips. But when she glances at Bellamy he’s completely unaffected as if forehead kisses and leg rubs are the norm for them. She decides to embrace the change though because it’s not a terrible thing.  
  


* * *

  
For the first time since Clarke moved in next door she manages to come out of her apartment at the same time Bellamy does.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he says when he sees her.

“I woke up before my alarm today,” she says with a smile.

“Shocker.”

When Bellamy reaches her he hugs her and murmurs, “Good morning.”

Clarke repeats his words as she hugs him back. They stay like that for a few more seconds because hugging her is one of Bellamy’s favourite things. But when his eyes wander to his arm that’s around her shoulders he notices the time.

“We better get going. Don’t want to make you late on the one morning you actually woke up early.”

Clarke laughs and pulls away from him to look at the time on her phone.

“Shit, yeah. Let’s go,” she responds and turns to start walking towards the elevator.

Bellamy follows after her, smiling to himself as he watches her fast walk down the hall. Miraculously the elevator arrives not a second after Clarke presses the down button and they enter the empty car.

“So,” Bellamy says and leans against the back wall of the elevator.

“So,” Clarke repeats with eyebrows raised as she presses the button for the lobby.

Bellamy takes her hand in his and lifts it to his mouth to press a kiss against her knuckles. Clarke looks at their joined hands and then at his face with wide eyes as he lifts his head.

“Happy one month,” he says after he intertwines their fingers. 

“One month of what?”

“Dating?”

“Each other?” Clarke asks, confused. “When did we decide that?”

Bellamy’s eyebrows furrow and he looks her up and down for a moment.

“When we talked about our feelings…” He trails off and he drops her hand suddenly and takes a step away from her. “Oh my god. You didn’t think I was asking you out.” 

Clarke’s mouth opens as she watches a myriad of emotions cross over his face. But before she can say anything, words are spilling out of Bellamy’s mouth.

“Wow, this is really embarrassing. I don’t know why I thought we were, or that you were – I mean I didn’t even _ask_ you out, I just assumed you knew I was talking about you.”

“Bellamy.”

“Oh my god. I’ve been cuddling you, kissing your cheeks and your hands, and fucking _rubbing_ your legs. I’m so sorry, it must’ve been so uncomfortable for you. I can’t believe how stupid I am,” he continues.

He knows he’s babbling like an idiot but he can’t stop it, words just keep coming out of his mouth before he even gets the chance to think.

“Bellamy,” she says again.

“Please forgive me Clarke.”

The elevator doors open to the lobby before Clarke can get a word out. They both look out the doors and Clarke quickly pushes the door close button and turns back to Bellamy.

“Do you want to go out with me?”

“What?”

“Do you want to be my boyfriend? For real this time,” Clarke says with a smirk.

“Yes,” Bellamy says quickly, the sound is rough as it leaves his mouth.

Clarke smiles and steps forward to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. He grunts against her mouth, completely surprised by the feeling of her lips against his. She presses her mouth harder against his and it snaps him out of his thoughts and into action.

Bellamy winds his arms around her waist, pulling her closer while opening his mouth for her. Clarke bites his bottom lip and he groans at the feeling. He pulls away from her lips and starts pressing kisses down her neck. Clarke tilts her head back and –

The elevator doors open with a ping and the voices of people waiting to get in reach their ears. They pull away from each other, very reluctantly, and greet the line of waiting people with lips wet and cheeks red.

“Sorry,” Clarke squeaks and pulls Bellamy along with her out of the elevator.

Once they exit the building without any further incident they burst out laughing on the sidewalk.

“We can’t show our faces in our building ever again,” Bellamy says in between laughs.

Clarke shakes her head and leans into his side with a smile. Bellamy puts his arm around her shoulder and squeezes her closer.

“Guess we have to move.”

“It’s really our only option.”

Clarke’s hand reaches up to caress Bellamy’s jaw and turn his face towards hers. When he looks at her she runs her thumb over the freckles on his cheeks and smiles.

“So, remember what you said in the elevator?” Clarke asks.

“I couldn’t forget if I tried. I’ve never been more embarrassed.”

“I meant the part when you said yes, you want to date me,” she says, colour appearing on her cheeks.

“Oh, that,” Bellamy says with a blank face.

For some reason he’s feeling self-conscious. He doesn’t want to eagerly say that he remembers and he wants to date her so bad because he can’t really believe that she wants to be with him.

“Yeah, that. Do you still mean it?”

Bellamy’s mouth drops open at the nervous expression on her face. She seriously doesn’t know how crazy about her he is.

“Of course I do Clarke. I thought I was dating you this whole time,” he says with a laugh. “Some of our neighbours catching us making out in the elevator isn’t going to change the way I feel about you.”

A smile finds its way onto Clarke’s face and it makes his insides warm.

“Good. For the record, I feel that same way. What you said to me last month is exactly how I feel about you.”

“Really?” He asks in pure disbelief.

“Yes, Bell. I’m alive when I’m with you and when we’re apart I feel like a part of me is missing. I just didn’t want to tell you because I never thought you’d feel the same and I didn’t want to make things weird between us,” she says in one breath.

Bellamy is staring at her with wide eyes and mouth open. He can’t believe that Clarke is standing in front of him telling him she’s basically in love with him.

“I’m so glad that we’re on the same page because there’s nothing I want more than to be with you,” she finishes.

He lets out a shaky breath and pulls her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tight. Her arms come around him in a second and she grips his shirt in a tight fist.

“You are a dream, Clarke Griffin,” Bellamy whispers into her ear.

“I’m real, we’re real, Bellamy.”

“And I thank God for that daily.”

Clarke laughs against his chest before pulling back to look into his eyes. They stay like that for a while, caught in each other’s stare. But then someone bumps into them and it brings them back to reality.

“Shit,” Clarke says, looking around and realizing they’ve been having their big romantic moment in the middle of the sidewalk.

They untangle themselves and Bellamy lifts his wrist to check his watch. His eyes widen as he reads the time and turns his hand so Clarke can see the watch face.

“We’re definitely going to be late now,” he says in a solemn voice which is so obviously fake.

“So I got up early for nothing? Thanks a lot,” she replies but she’s smiling so he knows she doesn’t really care.

“I’ll make it up to you tonight,” Bellamy says, signature smirk and lifted eyebrow in place.

He puts an arm around her shoulder and starts leading them in the direction of the university. Yeah they’re going to be late anyways but there’s no reason to be even later when they can walk and talk at the same time.

“Oh really?”

Bellamy smirks at her scandalized tone but keeps his gaze forward.

“Yeah, we’re going to go on a real date and I’m going to woo you with my good looks and charming personality.”

“There’s no need to lie, Bellamy. I already like you, you don’t have to try and make me believe you’re charming when I know for a fact that you’re an asshole.”

Bellamy chuckles and squeezes her shoulders. Clarke leans into him and bites her lip in an attempt to prevent herself from smiling.

“Takes one to know one,” he quips and looks down at her briefly.

“That’s why you love me,” she replies.

“Among other things.”

Clarke snakes her arm around his waist and tickles his side affectionately. She tilts her head up to kiss the side of his neck and his resulting smile is nothing short of brilliant in Clarke’s eyes.

“Wait,” Clarke says abruptly but doesn’t stop walking.

“Fuck, _how_ did I screw it up so fast?”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just wondering why you never kissed me.”

“Huh?” Bellamy asks.

“For the month you thought we were dating you never kissed me or even tried to. Why?”

Bellamy presses his lips together and looks away from her for a second.

“We’ve never really had luck in the past with our romantic partners and I didn’t want get ahead of myself by going too fast,” he says shyly. “Also, I guess I was just hoping to show you that this is more than just some kissing and sexual gratification for me.”

Clarke tightens her grip on his waist and leans her head on to his shoulder. She honestly doesn’t know what she’s done to deserve him.

“That is so cute,” she says with a grin on her face.

“Yeah, well,” he trails off.

He knows that they’re together now but he still feels embarrassed that for a whole month he thought they were dating and she had no idea that he loves her.

“Bell, don’t be embarrassed,” Clarke pleads with him. “I love that you were thinking like that. I appreciate you taking my past into consideration and trying to show me that you’re serious about us.”

Bellamy lets a smile overtake his closed off expression at her words.

“For the record though, you can kiss me anytime you want now. You can’t really go too fast when I’ve been waiting for this for like a year,” she says quickly.

“Good to know,” he replies and leans down to kiss her forehead.  
  


* * *

  
Bellamy’s idea of wooing Clarke means taking her to her favourite diner near campus that has all day breakfast and not judging her when she orders nearly half the menu. He just sits there, slowly eating his chocolate chip pancakes and putting his mouth on the lip of his coffee mug to hide his smile. And he watches her with a fond look on his face while she eats herself into oblivion.

And later that night he puts his mouth on some _other things_ and that definitely does the job of successfully wooing Clarke.

(As if she needed any more convincing.)


End file.
